ROB PAPEN Blade 2 £80

Familiarity breeds comfort. But there are some forms of synthesis that still feel under-represented by the market. It might be because synth-makers do not want to confront customers with drastic change. It may be because these more alien synth types are more difficult to package and present professionally. Whatever the reason, finding ways to exploit lesser-known synth engines and present them in ways that still feel comfortable and familiar to users is a formidable challenge – and it’s a challenge that Rob Papen plans to tackle.

SLICED AND DICED

Introduced in 2012, Rob Papen’s Blade virtual synth certainly made an impression with its canny take on additive synthesis. But since then, both the technology and Papen himself have evolved. Blade’s GUI felt a little dark and drab back then